In retail establishments, often the retailer does not have the means to print MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) characters on a check. In such a case, the retailer typically pays the bank(s) a fee for printing and verifying these characters. In certain situations, however, the retailer purchases an encoding machine to encode the checks. The encoding is performed as a separate task (i.e., at a later time than that of the point of sale). In either case, the subsequent printing of MICR characters on a check is wasteful both in time and in money for the retailer. The present invention suggests that it is more useful to print these characters at the point of sale.
The present invention seeks to provide a new method and apparatus for processing checks at the point of sale.
The invention allows for the printing (encoding) and verifying of magnetic ink characters at the point-of-sale. In particular, this invention provides a Point-of-Sale (POS) printer, allowing the retailer to print MICR characters. (Hereinafter, the word "encode" shall mean "to print magnetic ink characters upon the check.")
This invention allows a retailer to save money and/or time in one of two ways:
1) Having the POS printer of this invention, a retailer can print and verify these characters at the time of sale. This saves the retailer money and saves the banks the time to do so. PA0 2) Retailers having a POS printer need not purchase an encoding machine to encode the checks. Neither do they need to encode the checks as a separate task at a later time than that of the point of sale. The retailer having the POS printer of this invention saves the time and labor in performing this task at the point of sale, and not as a separate function performed at a later time.
The POS printer of this invention generally includes provisions for magnetizing and reading the account and bank information from the existing magnetic characters on the check. The encoding module prints the characters according to ANSI.sup.1, ISO.sup.2, or other standards using an ink having magnetizable particles embedded therein. The POS printer may magnetize and read these characters after they are printed, in order to verify that the correct characters have been encoded onto the check. The printer may comprise a magnet to magnetize the characters; a read head to generate waveform signals from the magnetized characters and electronics to analyze the signal waveform from each character; and a print mechanism with the capability of using magnetic ink for printing the characters. Certain read heads, such as DC-biased read heads, do not require a magnet to pre-magnetize the characters. In such cases, only a DC-biased read head and the associated electronics need be supplied.